UN Secretary General said that a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict should be preserved, at a press conference in Cairo on Wednesday.

Guterres’s comments came after he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and a day after a senior Egyptian official said the United States would not insist on a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

A senior Palestinian official denounced the White House comment on Wednesday, saying it was irresponsible.

“This does not make sense,” Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi told AFP. “This is not a responsible policy and it does not serve the cause of peace.

“They cannot just say that without an alternative,” she added.

The White House official’s comments came ahead of talks between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Wednesday in Washington.

“A two-state solution that doesn’t bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

For the better part of half a century, successive US governments — both Republican and Democrat — have backed a two-state solution.

AFP / AHMAD GHARABLI

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat speaks during a press conference in the West Bank city of Jericho, on February 15, 2017

PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said the organisation remained committed to two states and would oppose any system that discriminated against Palestinians.